A seedling needs good soil, water, sunlight, and nutrients to grow a healthy plant. Likewise, your child needs good nutrition, water, air, love, elimination/reduction of toxic elements, and an uninterrupted flow of nerve signals, to name a few, for healthy growth and development.
A baby is a vast bundle of neurons representing a potential of who that child may become physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially. How well information travels throughout the body during the early developmental period will determine how well the neurons get interlinked. The better the nervous system is wired together with the body parts, the higher the level of life expression within their greater potential. The result is a child that has the capacity to perform physically and mentally at higher levels, is able to resist infections more effectively, and can attain higher states of wellness.
We experience our internal and external world through our nervous system. As a child develops it is imperative that they have no interference to the nervous system. One of the most common and significant interferences occurs with vertebral subluxations (spinal misalignments). These are often painless and can occur in the fetus as intrauterine constraints. Forces on the neck in the birth process can then complicate them. They are further complicated by falls off changing tables, off beds, falls learning how to sit, walk and run, i.e., just being kids.
How common are these subluxations? A study done in Germany by Gutman, M.D. concluded that approximately 80% of all children are not in autonomic (nerves that run the organs) balance and many have upper neck vertebra subluxations. He has been “…constantly amazed how, even with the lightest adjustment with the index finger, the clinical picture normalizes, sometimes gradually, but often immediately.”
Chiropractic adjustments remove subluxations and related nerve interference enabling the mental impulses to interconnect the body’s systems for improved development, function, and quality of life. The better the body works, the better it can assimilate the nutrients from food and process toxic insults. In addition, parents are amazed to see how their child’s ongoing ear and other infections, asthma, allergies, colic, etc. improve naturally without drugs and their potential side effects.
In regards to nutrition, research continually supports what we have known for millions of years: breast is best. Mom provides baby’s nutrition prior to birth through the placenta and afterward through the colostrum and milk. Obviously, you can’t produce something out of nothing so it is important for the mother to maintain a health diet. I strongly recommend a new book by Walter Willett, M.D. and the Harvard Medical School entitled Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy.
Nutrients contained in breast milk include growth factors, hormones, digestive enzymes, and immune system protectors and boosters all of which cannot be produced by the baby and no infant formula can provide. Recent studies from Japan and Sweden have discovered additional immune factors. Powerful natural antibiotics in human breast milk can destroy the bad bacteria while leaving the beneficial bacteria alone. Artificial antibiotics can’t do this, which disrupts the natural balance of organisms in the bowel leading to Candida Albicans overgrowths and a host of related problems. Also, a protein substance has been found that destroys cancer cells.
Here is a short list of other benefits: Better psychomotor development, faster recovery from illness, saves money (formula about $800/yr.) and time, more hygienic and sterile, saves money in healthcare services due to a healthier child, and diminishes infantile colic, risk of diarrhea, diabetes, obesity, ear infections, diaper rash, and respiratory and allergic illnesses. Benefits to the mother include a release of hormones that decrease bleeding and shrink the uterus faster. Research has also shown that there is a decreased risk of pre-menopausal breast and ovarian cancer which is enhanced the longer you breastfeed past six months.
At the same time your baby is learning about their new environment through the nervous system, they are also doing this through mother’s milk. Mom’s chemical composition, especially the antibodies she has produced as a memory to fighting off past infections, will prepare the child for what they will encounter in their particular environment. This gives them a jump-start immunologically.
There is also a feedback mechanism that occurs when the baby suckles. The nutritional needs of the baby are related to the mother through absorption of saliva which triggers the mother’s nervous system (yes, Mom needs to be adjusted too) so the breast milk nutritional composition can be constantly adjusted per baby’s needs. Isn’t Mother Nature amazing?
Finally, we’d like to briefly discuss the increasing concerns and controversy over the current vaccination process due to the potential toxic effects on the developing child. As Stephanie Cave, M.D. states in her book What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Children’s Vaccinations “Parents who blindly listen to their doctors can no longer afford to do so. It’s time for parents to ask questions and learn all they can about vaccinations before a shot is scheduled.”
We offer this not to be anti-vaccine but to emphasize the importance of informed choice. There is a growing number of medical doctors and scientific researchers along with parents who have had children suffer irreversible neurological damage or death that are raising serious concerns about the present vaccination process. This is in response to an emerging pattern over the last 10-15 years of alarming increases in autism, learning disabilities, attention deficit, juvenile diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, and other conditions coinciding with increases in the number of recommended vaccinations.
For instance, the occurrence rate of autism in 1960 was 1 in 2,000 and in the year 2000 it was 1 in 135-200 depending on the area. Studies from around the world are drawing the association between this and increased combinations of vaccines loading these susceptible little brains with more and more Thimerasol, the preservative in almost all vaccines. What’s the problem? Thimerasol contains mercury the second most deadly poison on the planet. The problem arises when it is directly injected into infants whose immune systems and blood brain barriers aren’t mature enough to process it appropriately (another good reason to get adjusted and breast feed) and keep it out of the brain where it can cause damage.
The scenario gets even more bizarre and truly unconscionable as to what we may be doing to our children and potentially our culture when we look at the politics behind the situation. There have never been any studies done on the long-term effects of vaccinations past three weeks. Approximately three quarters of the government officials on the vaccine recommendation committees have financial ties with pharmaceutical companies that make the vaccines. FDA and CDC officials have known for years that mercury was being administered in this vehicle to children and nothing was done. Only recently did the government tell the pharmaceutical companies to stop putting Thimerasol in vaccines – why was there no recall? Mercury laden vaccines are, therefore, still out there! Follow the money trail – it’s a multi-billion dollar industry and a few little kids are not going to get in the way.
Enough of the problem – what can you do? Get educated. In Michigan you do have a choice and can easily get an exemption on vaccines for school or daycare purposes if you choose not to vaccinate partially or totally. Don’t just listen to one side of the story. Check out the side bar for references. Read Dr. Cave’s and Fisher’s books as a minimum. Ask serious questions. Don’t be intimidated. Request Thimerasol-free vaccines and don’t settle for anything less (Check with the NVIC at 1-800-909-SHOT or www.909shot.com for sources). Consider spreading out combination vaccines that are given at the same time. This allows the immune system to respond to what is given more effectively. Also, consider which vaccines you may choose to eliminate from the recommended schedule (Dr. Cave covers this in detail).
If you choose to vaccinate, beware of the following and consult with your medical doctor. At the time of the scheduled shot, if your child is sick, has been around anyone who is sick, or is in any way immune compromised, consider putting off the shot until another time. Also, if your child has experienced any of the following reactions to previous shots, this is a red flag for possible reactions if revaccinated: High fever, protracted inconsolable crying or screaming, alterations in consciousness, seizure, shock-like state (hypo-tonicity or hypo-responsiveness), alterations in breathing, rashes, vomiting, muscle dysfunction or weakness, joint swelling or tenderness, nerve related dysfunctions or symptoms in the extremities or head.
Babies are beautiful and it’s a treat to watch them develop over time. Before their window of opportunity closes, maximize their potential to grow, develop and express life to it’s fullest. For further information visit our web site and the resources in the sidebar.
Resources:
Chiropractic for kids
International Chiropractic Pediatric Assoc.
International Chiropractors Association
Vaccines
National Vaccine Information Center
www.909shot.com or 1-800-909-SHOT
Michigan Opposing Mandatory Vaccines
Dr. Viera Scheibner, author: Vaccinations
Citizens For Healthcare Freedom
www.unc.edu/~aphillip/www/chf/index.htm
(Very interesting article on the myths of vaccinations)
Think Twice Global Vaccine Institute
Parents Requesting Open Vaccine Education (PROVE)
Barbara Loe Fisher
A Shot In The Dark
Consumer’s Guide To Childhood Vaccines
Stephanie Cave, M.D.
What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About
Childhood Vaccinations
Viera Scheibner, Ph.D.
Vaccination: 100Years Of Orthodox Research Shows That Vaccines
Represent A Medical Insult On The Immune System
Neil Z. Miller
Immunization Theory vs. Reality
Vaccines: Are They Really Safe And Effective-
A Parents Guide To Childhood Shots
Robert Mendelsohn, M.D.
How To Raise A Healthy Child…In Spite Of Your Doctor